A GREAT-GRANDAD had to be rescued from his home after a carport collapsed under the weight of snow on its roof - trapping him inside.

Eric Duce and his neighbours Iris and Jim Houchen were freed from their homes by firefighters yesterday.

“I woke up at quarter past one to a loud bang,” explained Eric 87.

“I thought that’s my carport gone - I knew straightaway.”

The double carport between two semi-detached bungalows on The Willows, in Marton, was brought down by the accumulation of snow on its roof.

The gable wall on Eric’s home was also pulled down in the collapse. The retired ICI worker said: “I got up and went into the kitchen and the back door was gone and there was a pile of bricks in the kitchen. The bathroom window has also gone and there’s a mess in the wash basin with bricks and dust.”

Eric phoned his daughter Lynne Ford, who lives nearby, for help.

When Lynne got there she was shocked by the scene of devastation, as the front and backdoor were blocked by rubble.

The 57-year-old said: “It was worse than I imagined. I thought ‘how are we going to get in?’.”

Lynne and her husband Harry managed to force their way through the debris on their hands and knees.

Lynne said: “It was really scary because bricks were dropping.”

Once inside it was obvious they would have to call the fire brigade to clear the wreckage.

Three fire crews attended the scene at around 3.30am.

Lynne said: “The fire brigade had to use cutting machines to cut off parts of the car port.

“And they were passing bricks back to each other in a line.”

For about two hours firefighters worked to move away the canopy and some of the brick work to free the residents.

And Eric’s car, which had been hit by the falling wreckage, was uncovered.

Lynne said: “I keep telling him it’s just bricks and a car - it could’ve been much worse.”

Luckily his neighbours Iris and Jim had put their car in the garage. But they too were trapped inside their home.

Jim, an 82-year-old retired British Steel worker, said: “I heard a bit of a bang about 1.30am. I came out the bedroom and opened the door - Eric’s carport was down completely. Ours was still up.

“Twenty minutes later I heard another bang and ours had come down. I thought there’s nothing I can do until morning so I went back to bed.”

Jim was awoken again at about 4am to firefighters seeing if there was anybody inside.

Watch manager Richie Burnicle said it was lucky that the collapse happened in the early hours of the morning as it meant nobody had been hurt.

It is the second time this week heavy snow on a carport’s roof has caused it to collapse.

On Monday an elderly couple were treated for shock when their carport collapsed bringing down part of the gable wall of their bungalow on Marykirk Road, Thornaby.